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Showing posts from September, 2014

Change Your Life and Lose Weight

Most people don’t change their habits until they have to. And that includes eating habits. Changing your eating habits will change your life. It’s not that hard. Most important is to change your portions. If everyone kept a journal of everything they eat all day long and keep the journal for one month, I think you’d be shocked how much you consume every day. You don’t have to fill up when you eat. The idea that you only eat twice or three times a day is obsolete. When you only eat twice a day, your body gets use to it. Your body expects you to fill up so you can get to the next meal, the problem is that you don’t burn up all that food and then your body stores the excess. After a few weeks of storing the excess you’ve put on some weight. Start early with breakfast shortly after you wake up. You have to start your metabolism every morning with food. The earlier you eat in the morning the more calories you’ll burn that day. Nothing big, but something like yogurt or a bowl of cereal,

Is Your Stomach Causing You to Gain Weight?

I wrote about stomach problems being a cause of overweight a few weeks ago, but I only touched on the subject. Now I want to dig into it a little more. I wrote about how I had to do research about my weight problem, I had to learn why I was overweight before I could lose the weight and keep it off. Losing weight is in part psychological  and part physical. In other words, part of your problem maybe stomach problems, which I’ll explain later, and the other part might be  a subconscious feeling that  you can’t lose weight and by trying your only setting yourself up to fail. Some people who lost self-esteem have been rewarding themselves with food, generally comfort food which usually is high in calorie and low in nutrition. Overeating is the main cause for overweight. And overeating can be caused by many different things. It could be as simple as bad eating habits. (you eat the same way your parents ate and never saw anything wrong with it. )  Well, Corn, mashed potatoes, and frie

America's Waist Size is Still Going Up

Americans' belt size continues to inch up, and women's waistlines are widening faster than men's, according to new government research. The average waist size ballooned more than an inch -- from 37.6 inches to 38.8 inches -- between 1999 and 2012, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers found. Based on their waist circumference, 54 percent of Americans were abdominally obese in 2012, up from 46 percent 13 years earlier. "Waists are still expanding in the U.S., and particularly so among women," said study researcher Dr. Earl Ford, a medical officer at the CDC. While men's waists increased less than an inch -- about 0.8 of an inch on average -- women's midriffs grew about twice that, or 1.5 inches, Ford said. Waistlines larger than 35 inches for women and more than 40 inches for men are considered abdominal obesity, a risk factor for heart disease and diabetes. Waist circumference is a simple tool that reflects the amount of

Can Diet Drinks Help You Lose Weight?

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When you’re trying to lose weight or keep off extra pounds, can diet soda help? While it has fewer calories than regular soda, some studies show it fuels your sweet tooth. Which means it makes you crave sweet foods or drinks. It's one more way the food industry has to try and keep you wanting more. Most people are guilty of not drinking enough water. Just plain water, distilled water, spring water, or mineral water can help you lose weight by cleansing your digestive track. Diet sodas always become absorbed and juice too. They do very little to cleanse the digestive track. Also, are artificially sweetened sodas good for your health? Several studies this year continue the debate. My personal feelings is that the chemicals used to make artificial sweeteners can't be good for you. The Food And Drug Administration has the same old reasoning for allowing it, "It's such a small amount, it won't hurt you."  Of course, if you drink six a day, then it's not a

I Exercise, Why Can't I Lose Weight?

I understand you just want to lose weight and you don’t care about the “How and Why”. But if you have been wondering why your having so much trouble losing weight, then maybe you need to read this.  Your pulse is your  heart  rate, or the number of times your heart beats in one minute. Heart rates vary from person to person. Your pulse is lower when you are at rest and increases when you  exercise  (because more oxygen-rich blood is needed by the body during exercise).  Knowing how to take your pulse can help you evaluate your exercise program. If you are taking heart  medications , recording your pulse on a daily basis and reporting the results to your doctor can help your provider determine if the drugs are working properly. And it also helps you know if your exercise is really doing any good.  How Do I Take My Pulse? 1. Place the tips of your index (second finger) and third finger on the palm side of your other wrist, below the base of the thumb. Or, place the tips of you

More on Nuts: A Great Health Food

A few days ago I wrote about nuts, why their a great snack food. But today I found more about the nutritional benefits of nuts. Whether your on a diet or not, nuts should be in your diet.  Once viewed by some as a food too high in calories to enjoy on a regular basis, nuts are getting new respect. Two recent studies have pointed out the benefits of nuts for blood sugar control. One, published in  Diabetes Care , found that eating pistachio nuts daily may help people at risk of getting  diabetes  control their  blood sugar . A second, published in  PLOS One , found that tree nuts -- including almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, and pecans, among others -- may improve blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes . All problems that we have as overweight people.  These are only a couple of many recent studies that point to the health benefits of eating nuts in moderation. What are some of the top health benefits of nuts, as found in recent research? Aside from

Can I Skip Breakfast?

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Is skipping breakfast really a big deal? What the difference? If your trying to lose weight, I think that breakfast is important. It all goes back to the basic reasons for eating. If you want to stay healthy, you eat for the sake of your body. In other words, I Eat first thing or the first hour I’m up to give my body the fuel I need to concentrate, to give me strength to workout or to get to work and to be productive. When I was younger, I didn’t think about those things. When I was younger I still had the stored up nutrition that all of us are born with, but as you age you use up that nutrition and you start to lose your edge. Your not as sharp. It happens over many years and most people don’t realize it until they’re in their 40’s. By that time they caulk it up to aging or the fact that their out of shape, but the truth is they have spent their adult life eating wrong and not replacing that nutrition (vitamins and minerals) that they use up everyday. We get in the habit of e

Short Frequent Walks Will Counteract The Damage From Hours Of Sitting

I found this article yesterday; I often wondered why Europeans seem healthier than American. If you have ever vacationed in Europe you know they walk more than we do, but there has to be more to it. Some studies show that Europeans have a better diet and they eat smaller portions then we do.  Well maybe, but I read this article and just maybe evening walks after dinner could be the answer. Especially if you walk every night. TUESDAY, Sept. 9, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Taking really short but frequent walks can counteract the harm caused by sitting for long periods of time, a new study suggests. Yes, sitting for hours at a time will do damage to your body. Companies today are experimenting using standup desks and found that employees that use standup desks for even half a day will lose weight over time. Why, they walk more then employees who sit. The researchers found that even just a five-minute stroll can help. "American adults sit for approximately eight hours a day,"

Nuts, Apples, and Berries, The Best Snack Food

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I found a great article about my favorite snack food. We all snacks to get us through the afternoon. Most of us go to the snack machine and find something like chips or candy, when we should be eating nuts, apples, or berries. Bring your own snacks. This will prevent you from overdosing on salt or sugar. You can buy good snack food at the supermarket. If they have a bulk food section even better. If your watching your weight better off staying away from foods with a label. Manufactured foods are made to taste good, not good for you. Because manufactured foods contain nuts or berries doesn't mean it good for you. Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD Once viewed by some as a food too high in calories to enjoy on a regular basis, nuts are getting new respect. Two recent studies have touted the benefits of nuts for blood sugar control. One, published in Diabetes Care, found that eating pistachio nuts daily may help people at risk of getting diabetes control their blood sugar. A secon

Probiotics, Can It Help You Lose Weight

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You need to read about Probiotics, it can help you lose weight among other things. Probiotics may seem new to the food and supplement industry, but they have been with us from our first breath. During a delivery through the birth canal, a newborn picks up bacteria from his/her mother. These good bacteria are not transmitted when a Cesarean section is performed and have been shown to be the reason why some infants born by Cesarean section have allergies, less than optimal immune systems, and lower levels of gut microflora. Probiotics are believed to protect us in two ways. The first is the role that they play in our digestive tract. We know that our digestive tract needs a healthy balance between the good and bad bacteria, so what gets in the way of this? It looks like our lifestyle is both the problem and the solution. Poor food choices, emotional stress, lack of sleep, antibiotic overuse, other drugs, and environmental influences can all shift the balance in favor of the bad bacte

The Truth About Diets

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Big dieting names like Atkins, Ornish and Weight Watchers have long competed in the battle of the bulge. But a new analysis concludes that whichever diet people choose, their chances of success are about the same. For years, people seeking to shed weight have heard conflicting messages about the best route: Low fat? Low carb? Low glycemic index? The analysis, published in the  Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests it doesn't matter much. Across 48 clinical trials of more than 7,000 people on diets like Atkins, Zone, Ornish and South Beach, researchers found minimal differences in average weight loss. Instead, experts said, the old-fashioned advice to cut calories, rather than specific nutrients, seems key to success -- as is burning more calories through exercise. And ultimately, the "best" diet for any individual is the one he or she can live with long-term, according to Linda Van Horn, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern Univers